Skyfall
by Juniper Night
Summary: Marinette didn't have time to think. She'd shoved people out of her way and swan dived out the gaping hole in the skyscraper before she could finish saying "spots." Reveal fic. (EXTENDED as of 10/22/17)


One moment there'd been a wall of tinted glass, the next there was only blue sky, sparkling debris, an akuma leaping off into the distance, and her own falling form, reflected in the mirrored siding of the skyscraper she'd been safely standing in a moment before.

Alya squeezed her eyes close.

* * *

Marinette didn't have time to think. She'd shoved people out of her way and swan dived out the gaping hole before she could finish saying "spots." The wind ripped past her ears. Her ungloved hands struggled to stay straight against the force of it. Just one meter below her was Alya, spread eagle, resistant; all Marinette had to do was fall faster. She made herself narrower, sharper, a stiletto slicing through the atmosphere, and willed the magic down – _up_ – her body until it manifested as her trusty yoyo.

She was almost there-her fingers brushed Alya's shirt-she got a fistful of the fabric-Alya's eyes snapped open. Marinette was already twisting, sending up her yoyo with one arm and grabbing hold of her best friend with the remaining limbs. They slowed a scant few meters from the ground, and then they rebounded, hurtling back up the side of the skyscraper and into its chasm.

* * *

People were pointing and screaming, but all Adrien could do was latch onto Nino and stare at the empty space where his friends had been. Alya was gone, knocked back into the void by an akuma on its way out. And Marinette… sweet Marinette had jumped after her. He'd always thought her friendship with Alya was something beautiful, they were so loyally devoted to each other, but- but this was senseless, she can't have thought she'd be able to save Alya, and now they were both gone. _He_ should've been the one to go after her, if only he'd-

A red blur suddenly seized his attention. It went unnoticed by most of the class, but he _knew_ her yoyo when he saw it, and he latched onto it like a lifeline. If anyone could pull off a miracle, it'd be Ladybug.

A heartbeat passed.

Two heartbeats.

Then a clump of classmates and heroine flew into the room, and Adrien's heart soared. He shook Nino's arm, making sure he was seeing this, seeing that _they were all right_ , they'd been saved—

But when he looked again, there were only two figures. Two.

Adrien stilled as the grief stabbed him through the chest again, somehow deeper than before.

Alya had collapsed onto the floor, and the other girl-–Lady-, no Mari-, no–- was kneeling in front of her, frantically checking her over for injuries, asking over and over, _Are you alright? Alya, are you alright?_

Alya looked too disoriented to do anything more than stare at the girl in front of her and occasionally feel that the floor was still beneath her.

* * *

The person shaking her was very familiar. Alya blinked, not entirely sure who the girl was, how they'd gotten there, or whether the ground would disappear again. She wasn't entirely sure what was happening at all. A tiny voice in the back of her head noted with annoyance that she usually handled stress better than this; she'd handled Pharaoh, hadn't she? That was when years of reporting finally kicked back in, and her brain began to string the known facts into some sort of narrative.

It started with a field trip to the Tour Montparnasse.

The Montparnasse was the second tallest tower in Paris and the one with the best view, because it was the only place you couldn't see the Montparnasse from. They weren't there for the observation deck today though – they were visiting one of the companies that worked there, the architectural firm Nathaniel's mom worked for, on the 52nd floor.

They'd been there maybe five minutes before a stressed-out intern akumatized into a giant gorilla monster with a vendetta against architecture. The gorilla had roared, smashed several desks, and burst out the glass wall…

And unwittingly pushed Alya out the window as well.

Alya flinched as the terrible plummet began again, sky, and mirrors, and wind, and falling- but a warm touch brought her back. Nino was at her side. An impossible girl was in front of her. And somehow, she was here.

* * *

Marinette had never seen Alya so freaked out before. She'd been nonresponsive for a few long and terrible moments, but Marinette could see that she was starting to recover. She'd finally noticed Nino's gentle attempts to unclench her fingers from their death grip on the carpet, and she was making eye contact. Actually, she was staring. At Marinette.

Marinette suddenly remembered that, oh yeah, she'd just revealed her super-secret magical crime-fighting alter ego to her best friend and biggest fan, and to Nino, and to-

Aww, fudge.

* * *

Adrien couldn't tell who it was in front of Alya, and the suspense was killing him. The girl had on a red suit and mask, but she was also wearing pink pants, grey sleeves, and strange jewelry that shined like the sun in his eyes.

Adrien didn't understand why his brain had stopped functioning. Who had survived? He needed to know if that was Marinette or Ladybug.

Wait.

Oh.

 _Oh._

Ladybug finally registered the staring faces of her classmates. Her gaze skittered from Alya, to her peers, to the hole, and back again, and Adrien heard a new sound come from her throat. A frantic, high-pitched thrumming, like the sound of a hundred tiny beating wings, just barely audible to his cat-like hearing.

He wanted to say something reassuring, to tell her it was alright, but the secret of Cat Noir stilled his tongue and made it difficult to decide what to say.

An explosion across the street interrupted him before he could even begin.

Lady-nette gave a little start, and whipped around to watch the akuma across the street. When she faced the class again, the anxiety was still there, but it was second to the familiar determination in the set of her brow.

"Alya, no akuma chasing today, just – sit this one out okay? Madame Bustier, get everyone to the ground floor _now_ , and not a word about this to anyone from any of you!"

The sounds of screaming and glass shattering were coming from across the street.

"I have to go deal with this," she said unnecessarily, already heading towards the opening. She paused, remembering she was only partially transformed. Then she lifted her arms, flinging the transformation outwards. Waves of sparkling light ran across her form, leaving polka dots in their wake. She was radiant.

Adrien squinted but refused to close his eyes. Seeing Ladybug transform was something he'd daydreamed about for eons. He had imagined something more private, without the near-death experiences, but Ladybug and Marinette and Alya were all alive and that was what really mattered.

With two graceful lopes and a toss of her yoyo, Ladybug was gone, swinging off into an urban canyon.

It didn't take long for Madame Bustier to regain her bearing. "Everyone to the stairs, please! Stay together!"

Most of the class started moving where directed, some of them nudging their peers forward when it became clear that not everyone was present enough to notice instructions. Adrien tried to hang back, but Rose noticed him and grabbed his hand.

"C'mon, Adrien."

Adrien tried to pull away, "But-"

"We have to stick together!" She insisted, moving towards Juleka and the stairs. Rose really was too sweet – there was no way she'd miss him or any other classmate if they disappeared without any explanation.

"Aw, screw it," Adrien grumbled. He might as well at this point. "Plagg, claws out!"

Rose dropped his hand and fell over in shock when the same light that'd covered Marinette before now encircled Adrien. A moment later, it was no longer Adrien who stood before her.

Chat Noir stopped to help Rose to her feet before he too left the building.

"Milady, wait!"

* * *

"Oh my god, it's a square," Alya said abruptly.

A few of her classmates turned to look at her in concern, but most of them were still trying to process the hole, the bug, and the cat in the room. Madame Bustier put her hands firmly on her traumatized student's shoulders and steered her towards the stairwell with Nino in tow.

"Unless one of you is about to declare that you're Hawkmoth," she began, eyes flicking briefly towards Chloe, "I know for a fact that no one else here has superpowers. Now come along, class."

* * *

 **A/N: I think I have a thing for individuals leaping dramatically from tall places and people being like "oh no!/glad that's taken care of" and then the person being like "psyche! I can fly." This is the first one of those stories that I've actually written though.**

 **EDIT: I found a beta for this! And they suggested that I add some more of Alya and Marinette's perspectives after the fall, as well as background, and I ended up adding about half of the story's original length worth of material. Tada! More story for you.**

 **If you liked this story, feel free to drop a review or check out Juniper Night Studios on Facebook and Tumblr ^_^**


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